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Calgary Airport Trail Tunnel pour on track

The concrete infrastructure of the Calgary Airport Trail Tunnel is now more than half finished.

CALGARY

The concrete infrastructure of the Calgary Airport Trail Tunnel is now more than half finished.

The walls and roof of the 620-metre long tunnel are being poured in 50 sections and 26 sections have been poured, as of early July.

“This tunnel will contribute significantly towards improving Calgary’s transportation network, particularly in the movement of goods and people to and from the airport,” said Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi in a press release.

The tunnel structure is being constructed to accommodate six lanes of traffic, with the provision for a future transit way, and will extend Airport Trail from Barlow Trail to 36 Street N.E.

Each tunnel section requires 850 cubic metres of concrete.

The tunnel walls and roof under the new runway are part of the sections that have been poured.

The city will hand over that portion to the Airport Authority so work can begin on the runway construction. All sections of the concrete walls and roof will be done by this fall, said the city.

Other work needed to complete the tunnel include backfilling the concrete sides of the tunnel walls, installation of lighting, as well as road construction inside the tunnel.

Most of the work on the roadways will take place in 2013. The entire project is expected to be completed by May 2014.

Calgary city council approved a budget of $294.8 million for this project.